Routines

Toddlers

What We Saw: The teacher put a large blanket covered with Disney characters on the rug. "We'll put them here so they can sleep while we're outside." Then she put pillows on top of the blanket near the images of the characters. "When we come back, we'll read a story on this blanket with the pillows and then we'll eat lunch. After lunch, we'll nap." The toddlers got very quiet as the teacher cautioned them not to awaken the sleeping characters. Another teacher in the room helped the children put on their jackets. By the time the first teacher was finished speaking, the children were dressed and ready to go outside.

What It Means: Toddlers develop a sense of trust when they understand what comes next in their routine. When teachers use foreshadowing for children, they are preparing the children in advance for what will come next. Toddlers learn best using all of their senses, therefore the use of props as a physical representation of naptime was very meaningful to these children.

Preschool

What We Saw: One of the daily jobs for children in the classroom is to dispense soap to each person before they wash their hands. The child who had this job showed great pride on his face when he gave every child (and adult) a squirt of soap. Another child had a job to dispense hand lotion after hand washing and before circle time. The children sat and rubbed their hands together enjoying the feel of the lotion on their hands. This had a calming effect on the children while they waited for group time to begin.

What It Means: The anticipation and elimination of potential problems and encouragement of positive behavior takes many forms in early childhood programs. This classroom was experiencing some difficulty with children using too much soap when they washed their hands. The teachers decided to create a job for dispensing soap before group hand washing times. This was a creative solution to a common situation. The teachers then decided to extend the idea and give another child a job to dispense hand lotion.

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